Updated

04/07/2015 - 4:30pm

Imagine being in a hospital with a deadly illness and you can't see the faces of the people caring for you. That's what it's like for Ebola patients. And it's what Los Angeles-based artist Mary Beth Heffernan went to Liberia to change.

Yoga's not the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about treatment for PTSD in veterans. But from the VA a to the Pentagon, yoga classes are becoming not just commonplace, but in some rehabilitation programs mandatory.

With the Ebola outbreak not yet behind us, global health workers are already scrambling to prevent what could be the next big outbreak of an emerging disease caused by a virus that jumped from animals into humans. In Tanzania, an organization is trying a new approach to tracking these new viruses and preventing another pandemic.

The new NOVA special, "Vaccines: Calling the Shots," explores the lingering global resistance to vaccination campaigns. Case studies from around the world explain just how bad the impact can be when groups opt out of childhood shots.

Diseases that can move between animals and humans — called zoonotic diseases — make up a majority of infectious diseases that humans can get, scientists say. So it's no wonder that out-of-control logging in West Africa has likely aided the spread of Ebola.

What’s a bunch of trees worth? Well, if they save your town from the storm surge of a huge typhoon, you might say they’re invaluable. That’s what happened to the community of General MacArthur, in the Philippines, and its fate holds a lesson for coastal communities around the world.

It was a rare political moment: the US Secretary of State paying a compliment to Cuba. But that’s what happened Friday when John Kerry commended Cuba's role in West Africa, where the island nation has sent more health workers than any other country — and plans to send even more in the coming weeks.

At rural hospitals in Africa, you'll often see high-tech medical equipment discarded and unused. In places where electricity is unreliable and spare parts are unavailable, expensive devices can quickly become worthless. So Dr. Oluyombo Awojobi designs and builds his own low-tech devices to keep his hospital running.